Top 10 Sax Solos in Rock'n Pop by Steve April on The Pipeline at IndieMusicPeople

Top 10 Sax Solos in Rock'n Pop
Recently, uploaded a new song "Pandora City," w a kickin' sax solo, done by Mark, in tandem with a lead guitar.

Mark really caught a toucha magic with his sax work, and here's a Top 10 excerpt on youtube. Kinda interestin'...Viva sax...

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Shoe City Sound

10/20/2015 8:54:50 AM

Watched the whole video thinking "I can't believe they don't have Baker Street on this ...... but then of course, #1 haha - although I always thought it was the combo of sax and bass that really made that hook so fabulous.

Good one Steve. I love sax.

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Stoneman

10/20/2015 9:43:19 AM

Awesome! Just so happens that the Sax was the first instrument I taught myself to play. This is some amazing work. I am in awe!

Much Respect!

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Lars Mars

10/20/2015 3:02:27 PM

Yes, Clarence was arguably the most awesome ever, but I thought for sure after the teaser in the beginning that Curtis Amy's solo on "Touch Me" would at least get an honorable mention... That's why I bought my first sax. I was in San Jose one afternoon and trying to think how to do that solo on a guitar and it just didn't work, so on the way home to Richmond, we stopped in Oakland or Berkeley at the first music store we found and I bought a cheesy tenor for too much money because I had to have it. My wife was trying to negotiate with the sales guy, but he wouldn't budge when he heard me saying "I love it!" "I gotta have it!"

Touch Me

And I can't believe that neither of these great Jr. Walker tunes made it at all. He was fantastic!

Shotgun (a faster live version):
No bass, my guess is the keyboard player added it with foot pedals.
Girls in cages and lots of bad dancing, but a really great version of a great song:

And the immortal What Does It Take:

Not to mention Bobby Keys' excellent sax on Can't You Hear Me Knockin' by the Rolling Stones:

Thanks for bringing it up Steve...

Glenn

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Bryon Tosoff

10/20/2015 3:15:21 PM

Boots Randolph. not pop but he sure rip that thing up, saw him in concert way back, and he played two saxophones at once, crazy man

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Lars Mars

10/20/2015 7:33:03 PM

Bryon, Yakety Sax was definitely pop... hit #35 on Billboard in 1963 (had to look it up). The pop charts in the sixties were a lot more eclectic and diversified than today.

Remembered another wonderful sax solo - this one's the perfect compliment to Marvin Gaye's beautiful vocal on this one.

Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)

Thanks again for bringing it up Steve... makes me wanna dust off the Selmer (1969 Mark VI) and wake the neighbors.

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Steve April

10/21/2015 9:42:00 AM ---- Updated 10/21/2015 10:14:27 AM

Hi Lars Mars (Glenn), great vids there. Bryon, Boots rocks. Dolores, Stoneman, would love to hear you play sax.

Hope you'll check out "Pandora City", where Mark blows it out to the stars, urgent lol.

"Today, many people enjoy the wonderful music produced by the saxophone. The beautiful sound of a sax quintet or a blaring jazz soloist can be heard all around the world. The saxophone has become a part of almost every style of music. It is being played everywhere from night clubs to football fields. The saxophone is truly one of the great musical instruments in our existence." wikipedia

p.s.
remember drivng around to Sade's "Smooth Operator," great sax solo...

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Steve April

10/23/2015 9:28:53 AM

Loved this song when it came out, Sade seems a fresh breeze, splendid storytellin'... (lyrics)

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Hop On Pop

10/23/2015 5:14:19 PM

"Baker Street"

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Steve April

10/25/2015 6:42:26 PM

Speaking of Jerry and "Baker Street..." Perhaps influenced by "Positively 4th Street?"

Well, Stealer's Wheel (Jerry) did "Stuck In The Middle w You", creatively influenced by a Dylan song like "Stuck Inside of Mobile (With the Memphi Blues Again)."

Interestingly, Sade's song above "Smooth Operator" may've been creatively influenced lyrically by "Goldfinger."

Watch all your memories change into gold,
his eyes are like angels, his heart is cold."
--Smooth Operator

Pretty girl, beware of his heart of gold
This heart is cold
He loves only gold
--Goldfinger

Anyone think of creative infuences in a song, that tips a hat to a prior song?

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Hop On Pop

10/26/2015 7:30:58 AM

Some of you may throw eggs at me for dare mentioning this one, but:
"Careless Whisper" by Wham

As time has gone on, I've come to accept George and Andrew as nothing worse than inoffensive Motown wannabes. But, generally they were much better than that. If they had been black Americans singing those same songs, I don't think the musical snobs would have been nearly so hard on them. And, this tune has a killer melody and… that GREAT sax part.
Now, I am not going to go so far as to say that they should be canonized as brilliant artists. But they are a hell of a lot better than folks generally give them credit for. Especially on this tune.

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Steve April

10/28/2015 1:11:50 PM ---- Updated 10/28/2015 1:23:45 PM

Here's "Harlem Nocturne," written in the 1920s, many renditions, through the 80s. Saxophone, and james bond-y guitar...

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Steve April

10/30/2015 6:30:22 PM

Warms the heart...

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Duane Flock

10/31/2015 6:16:03 AM

It took me about two years to find the right sax player for my song Last Night. I went to a place to hear a Steely Dan tribute band called DeJa Vu. I knew I had to have Greg Albright play the part. I talked to him and we agreed on $150. I sent Greg the mp3 and he not only played two solos, but did background fill and a double unison track to himself at the end of the last solo!!!
By the way our own Bryon Tosoff played Hammond on this track also!!

Last Night

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Lars Mars

11/1/2015 4:51:25 PM

And, of course, the immortal Duke Silver.

"Will he marry me and play at our wedding?"
– Thelma W.

"Duke is an aphrodisiac."
– Patty T.

"Phenomenal."
– Nancy R.

"He makes me feel 60 again."
– Estelle E.

"If all music was this sexy, I’d have ten radios on all the time."
– Florence P.

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